Cemetery Weather - Sound In The Signals Interview
I recently had the opportunity to interview Cemetery Weather. We discussed the band’s origins, their influences, the writing and recording process for their new EP, ‘Parting Ways’, lyrical inspiration, writing the song that was their first full band effort, and more. Check it out below.
First, thanks for the interview.
Thank you so much, honored to be a part of SitS's history!
Can you tell me how you got together and formed the band for those who may be unfamiliar? How did you initially become interested in music?
We were all friends from within our local scene! JR had been in another band that had run its course, and wanted to make a project that was gonna be fun but more musically challenging. Josh S and JR ended up getting together to write some pop punk like stuff and needed a full lineup to flesh things out. Justin, Andrew, and Zach stepped in to complete our family feeling band. Most of us have always found a place in music. Through shows, and learning to play our instruments of choice.
Who are some of your biggest influences and how did you find your sound?
All of us have varied influences. Upon creation of the band, we all knew we wanted a pop-punk kind of vibe. As we were writing, we ended up utilizing a lot of heavier influences. A few bands we really drew influence from collectively: Four Year Strong, State Champs, and Capstan. JR draws influence from bands like Green Day, Meet Me @ The Altar, and Funeral For a Friend. Our drummer Zach draws influences from some other types of bands like The Contortionist or Dance Gavin Dance. He likes to play upbeat and aggressive patterns with slightly progressive twists.
You just released your new EP ‘Parting Ways’. Can you tell me about the writing and recording process for the EP?
We got really lucky with recording! Our friend Dave(DaveyMedia) was in The Days Ahead with our guitarist Josh S. So we had it figured out during writing that we would be recording with him. Basically, as we wrote new material, we would go down and record it bit by bit. Most of the guitar riffs Josh and JR came up with, they had been wanting to use it for sometime. So once we had all finally come together, we collectively all came up with the lyrics. It usually starts with a riff we all like and build on, combing through variations on every part until we find what works best for the vibe we're writing on, and until everyone is happy with their contribution to the song. Everyone has total creative freedom, which has made the process a strong collaborative effort as a whole.
What was the lyrical inspiration for the EP?
A lot of the lyric writing came from struggles and experiences from members within the band, and from friends we shared. We were all coping with different things, so that's why the songs all have different themes within them. A big theme that was still recurring throughout the entire EP was coping with change and how to proceed forward. This EP was written with the question of: How should we move forward from tragedy? Where do we look for love and hope to get through that? How do we keep ourselves from growing further apart?
How do you go about choosing which songs make the EP and how they should flow together?
Well, we all initially planned to write with an EP in mind for our first release. We finished writing Arcadia first, and we knew it would be our first single. The last song we wrote for the EP, Sanctuary, wasn't originally planned to be on the EP, but it fit our themes, and it was something we all came up with together. We tried to make them flow in such a way that the song that came next made thematic sense to us. We knew that Revival needed to be first, to draw you in, and to wake up the listener. We knew it needed to end with Sanctuary, because the song closes on such an epic note.
The closing song “Sanctuary” is a favorite of mine from the EP. Can you tell me about writing that song specifically?
We're glad you asked about that one in particular. Sanctuary came together as the first Cemetery Weather song that was truly conceived as a full band effort, and it was the song that took us the longest to write. Between Josh and JRs rhythms and leads, and Andy's monstrous bass lines, we knew we had a cool song coming together. While we were working out some parts on drums, Justin had told us he was having trouble writing for the song and asked Zach if he could help. The lyrics for Sanctuary are a blend of Justin's and Zachs, and come from a point in time where we were feeling really down and out with things going on personally and in the world around us. Justin came out with the ending right before we hit the studio, and blew us away with it. We got inspiration for the drum and bass part in the second verse, from the song Melrose Diner by The Wonder Years.
Thanks for taking the time to answer the questions. Do you have anything else that you would like to add?
Shout outs to all our friends in the 413 scene and beyond!! Thanks for the support of everyone who's been listening to and talking about our music. It means more to us than we have words for.
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